Zimbabwe is placing agriculture at the centre of its ambitions for faster economic growth, with the government targeting stronger farm output, expanded irrigation, local processing and land-tenure reforms as it implements its second National Development Strategy (NDS2).
President Emmerson Mnangagwa has said growth could reach 7.4% in 2026 under NDS2 projections. However, Zimbabwe’s 2026 National Budget and the International Monetary Fund (IMF) have put the more conservative 2026 growth outlook at around 5%, making the higher target an ambition rather than the prevailing baseline forecast.
Agriculture is expected to be an important part of the growth strategy. The 2026 budget projects the sector to expand by 5.4%, supported by favourable rainfall, irrigation and continued investment in climate-resilient production. Agriculture rebounded strongly in 2025 after the severe 2024 drought, growing by an estimated 24%.
The recovery is already visible across several value chains. Zimbabwe achieved wheat self-sufficiency again in 2025 with a harvest of 375,000 tonnes, while maize production recovered to 2.3 million tonnes. Tobacco production reached more than 358 million kilogrammes, valued at over $892 million, making it the country's leading agricultural export earner. Agricultural exports now exceed $2.1 billion, according to the President.
Under NDS2, the government wants to move beyond production towards greater domestic processing. Special Agro-Processing Zones are planned across all 10 provinces, with officials pushing for more soybeans to be converted into cooking oil and feed, fruits into juice and concentrates, milk into dairy products, and livestock into packaged meat and leather.
Land policy is another major component. Zimbabwe is converting existing 99-year leases into bankable, registrable and transferable tenure documents, which the government says should improve farmers' ability to use land as collateral and attract agricultural investment. The 2026 budget also proposes decentralising land-title processing to provincial centres.
The reforms are intended to address one of Zimbabwe's longstanding agricultural constraints: access to affordable finance. Without secure and recognised tenure, many farmers have struggled to use their land as collateral for commercial credit.
Investment in irrigation is also being accelerated. The government aims to increase functional irrigable land to 350,000 hectares by 2030, while public-private partnerships are being used to expand irrigation capacity and reduce dependence on rainfall.
The approach has attracted some evidence of what stronger agricultural investment can achieve. A four-year African Development Bank-backed programme reached more than 188,000 farming households, supported 153,000 hectares and helped generate record wheat yields while expanding access to agricultural finance.
Yet Zimbabwe still faces significant risks. Climate variability, financing constraints, infrastructure gaps and currency pressures could limit how quickly agricultural gains translate into broader economic growth.
NBF Insight
Zimbabwe is trying to make agriculture do more than feed the country. The ambition is to make it a platform for exports, manufacturing, rural industrialisation and investment. The success of that strategy will depend on whether higher farm output can be matched with secure land rights, affordable finance, reliable water and enough processing capacity to keep more agricultural value inside Zimbabwe.
